Council to consider repealing ordinance

March 12, 2014

EAST LIVERPOOL - City council will be considering legislation Monday repealing a previously adopted ordinance that authorized the detachment of territory from the city.

During a meeting Tuesday morning of council's ordinance/recreation committee meeting, Chairman Russell Dray presented an ordinance to that effect, which was forwarded for council's review.

The earlier ordinance was adopted by council in 1996, assenting to the detachment of state-owned four-lane highways from the city.

The issue recently was revisited during a conversation with the Ohio Department of Transportation, which offered three options for maintenance of state routes 7, 11, 30 and 39.

One of those options is to detach, or de-annex, the highways, which would cause their maintenance to revert to Liverpool Township.

Service-Safety Director Ryan Estell has done some research into the possibility, but recently told council more information is being gathered before a decision should be made. He had outlined the pros and cons of detaching the highways at that time.

However, council members Ray Perorazio and Ryan Stovall adamantly opposed the move, calling for repeal of the earlier ordinance, even though that detachment had never taken place in 1996.

If council adopts this latest ordinance repealing the original ordinance, council would then have to pass new legislation if it decides to detach the highways.

In a related issue, Estell provided council members Tuesday with several ordinances dating as far back as 1978 authorizing agreements with ODOT for maintenance of the highways.

Dray also reported to the committee that he is trying to have the American Queen riverboat make a stop in the city during a July trip between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and the committee agreed to forward that plan to council for consideration.

The finance/labor committee forwarded two ordinances to council for consideration, both amending the budget by adjusting appropriations.

One ordinance increases appropriations for the indigent drivers fund by $30,000 to pay for such services as alcohol and drug assessments and treatments for those charged by the court.

Although he supported forwarding the legislation to council, committee member Charles Wade said he considered it a "waste of money," since "these people keep coming back to the same thing."

The second budgetary ordinance forwarded to council increases appropriations in court capital improvements by $20,000 for contractual and consulting and adjusted appropriations in water R&I by $187,052.